Eight-Time Grammy Winner Gloria Estefan Testifies in Support of the American Music Fairness Act

SAG-AFTRA member and eight-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist Gloria Estefan testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 2 in support of the American Music Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill that seeks to ensure artists are fairly compensated when their music is played on AM/FM radio stations.

The singer-songwriter and musician, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 alongside her musician husband Emilio, reminded the committee who wins and who loses when it comes to performers and radio airplay.

“When their music is played on the radio, artists don’t get paid,” Estefan noted. “Only the songwriters do. Radio stations benefit from the advertising dollars, but the artists that breathed life into a song, the featured artists, the singers, producers and studio musicians, are left out. This can be particularly problematic for older artists, whose songs are not in the Top 40 but still get airplay,” the singer said.

Estefan identified herself as one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who earn their living making music and urged the Committee to consider the financial hardships many musical artists have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which all but eliminated live musical performances. 

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher praised Estefan for her passionate support of the legislation.

“Bravo to Gloria Estefan for standing up for all recording artists,” said Drescher. “As a television actor, I can say how grateful every performer is to receive residuals for the reuse of our performances. Singers and musicians whose music is played on terrestrial AM/FM radio deserve the same treatment for the ongoing use of their music performances. This critical piece of legislation would help so many artists who rely on royalties to cover life’s essentials. You go, Gloria! This is the right thing to do. It’s called the Fairness Act for a reason!”

The American Music Fairness Act would give new rights to the copyright holder of a sound recording and give that holder, often the performer, the exclusive right to perform that recording. Currently, public performance rights do not cover AM/FM radio stations, where many listeners still find their musical content. This new bill, should it pass, would mean radio stations would be required to pay fees to performers for their music, not just to the publishers of that music, as it stands today. Certain small-revenue radio stations would be allowed to pay lower fees.

This item was originally featured in the SAG-AFTRA magazine spring 2022 issue.